Pastor`s wife accuses husband of sexually exploiti

Bangalore: The wife of a 45-year-old pastor
of a local church here has lodged a police complaint accusing
him of cheating and sexually exploiting young girls.

In the complaint, Priyalatha has accused her husband K
Shantaraju of misappropriating church funds and sexually
exploiting minor girls at Gangamanagudi area of the city. The
pastor, however, has denied the charges.

Priyalatha also claimed that she had photographs to prove
her allegations. She alleged that Shantaraju and some of his
family members had often threatened and tried to use political
clout to hush up cases of exploitation.

The woman said she had remained silent owing to this and
also with the hope that her husband would reform one day.

However, the pastor, who had filed a divorce petition,
dismissed the allegations as false and baseless. He claimed
that the allegations were only a method deployed by his wife
to gain hold of the church property.

Police said the complaint has been registered and the
case was being probed. "We have to carefully investigate the
case, as the couple had lodged earlier cases against each
other and were fighting a divorce case. No arrests have been
made so far," they said.